Age dependency of the progression of HIV disease in haemophiliacs; predictive value of T cell subset and neopterin measurements.
Sixteen HIV-seropositive haemophiliacs were followed up for 42 months and 9 other patients for 24 months. All patients were infected in 1983 or 1984. T cell subsets and serum neopterin levels were measured twice a year. The patients were divided into three groups according to their age in 1989: group A (children) less than 14 years old (n = 6); group B (adolescents) 14-20 years old (n = 8); group C (adults) greater than 20 years old (n = 11). At the last measurement performed in November, 1989, patients of group A had significantly higher absolute number and percentage of CD4+ lymphocytes and significantly lower serum neopterin levels than patients of group B and C. In addition, the percentage of the activated, CD3+ DR+ lymphocytes was also significantly higher in the adult-adolescent group than in the children group. Until the end of December, 1989, AIDS developed in 0, 1 and 2 patients and ARC was diagnosed in 0, 5, and 2 patients of groups A, B, and C, respectively. The progression of the HIV disease towards AIDS in these patients was predicted by the T cell subset and neopterin measurements performed in 1987. Only those 3 patients who progressed to AIDS had CD4+ cells less than 350/microliters and a neopterin value of more than 20 nmol/l. These findings confirm previous observations indicating that in patients with haemophilia the progression of HIV disease is influenced by age: a relatively slow progression can be expected in prepuberty children.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Ujhelyi
E
E
National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Budapest, Hungary.
Fuchs
D
D
Králl
G
G
Zimonyi
I
I
Berkessy
S
S
Bujdosó
S
S
Pálóczi
K
K
Mihalik
R
R
Füst
G
G
Wachter
H
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D002452:Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019798:Neopterin; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin